


Allies

by MoonviewRising



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Transformers Humanized, Transformers as Humans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29188281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonviewRising/pseuds/MoonviewRising
Summary: What if instead of keeping the Autobots hidden from the world, the government had them join the Justice League. Still being a teenager, Bumblebee joins the other protégés Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Emerald Lantern as they rebel and form Young Justice; fighting both the Light and the Decepticons when the adults aren't able to. What could go wrong?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something I made in high school that I'm reworking now. So, I figured I'd post it on here. So, let me know what y'all think.

Prologue

**A/N: So, I had an idea a while back about what if the government made the Autobots work with the Justice League rather than keeping them in the shadows.**

**Now, like this was previously in the old version, and in many of my other stories, this is humanized—sort of. They still have alien abilities naturally.**

**I am also messing with the timeline quite a bit in both Young Justice and in Transformers; mostly cause I know more details now than I did when I first wrote this. Also, I figured I should probably include my version of Cybertronian time measurements—I know they’re like way different that typical estimations but whatever, this is what I went with.  
Vorn (year)—1,000,00yrs  
Quartex (month)—84,000yrs  
Trimara (week)—20,850yrs  
Orn (day)—2,976yrs  
Cycle (half-day)—1,488yrs  
Groon (hour)—24hrs  
Joor (1/2 hour)—12hrs  
Breem (1/4 hour)—1.5hrs  
Klik (minute)—1.2min  
Nanoklik (seconds)—1s**

Soft clicking filled a large empty room as a dark figure stood at a monitor typing quickly. Every now and then, a file would pop on screen, before the man scowled, pushing it to the side for later review. Things had been oddly quiet—too quiet. Stepping away from the monitor, a long dark cape scraped the ground as a cowled figure approached the window, watching clouds move through the atmosphere of the blue and green planet below. Normally by now there would be some sort of emergency or incident; it seemed rare that the world was ever at peace.

It was only a matter of time before something would happen.

Behind him, the monitor beeped loudly, screen flashing as someone tried to call. Unsurprised, the Dark Knight turned on his heel and approached the screen. So, whatever it was didn’t appear to be an immediate emergency, if it had been it would’ve been one of his fellow Leaguers, not the United States government. “Agent William Fowler,” he greeted.

If the agent was surprised he knew who he was, he didn’t show it. Not that Batman was surprised, the man had likely learned plenty in the Army Rangers before transferring to Special Ops. “Batman, I take it you know why I’m calling?”

The Dark Knight nodded. It wasn’t hard to figure out, this specific agent would only be calling if it pertained to the meteor shower out in Death Valley that occurred a few days ago. There’d been reports that some of the meteors actually made it through the atmosphere. And, judging from his own hunch, those meteorites, weren’t really that.

“Good,” Fowler responded. “Cause there’s someone who wishes to speak with you.”

The agent stepped back, and a man walked into the frame wearing bright red and blue armor. He was tall, taller than himself and Clark, thick black hair that was cropped at the sides contrasting to his pale skin. Batman would’ve guessed this newcomer was possibly Kryptonian, if it wasn’t for his eyes. Glowing blue eyes looked back at him, the brilliant orbs standing out against the black sclera. “Hello Batman,” a deep powerful voice rumbled, “I am Optimus Prime, Leader of the Autobots.”

Batman nodded, eyes narrowing behind his cowl. He didn’t like the idea of more aliens with unknown powers coming to Earth, but so far, these ones hadn’t done anything to indicate they were hostile. Yet. “Why are you here? I take it wasn’t just the happen stance of a crash landing.”

“No,” Prime answered, his voice surprisingly level for someone he just accused of planning an invasion. “We did choose to come to your world.”

“Why?”

“We have received viable intel that your world may soon be under attack but adversaries of ours looking for resources stashed here eons ago.”

This seemed too convenient. “How can I trust you?”

Glowing blue eyes regarded him for a moment, “In all honesty, I do not know how to convince you. We are strangers to your world. I can tell you what you need to know about our world and enemies, all I ask is for the heroes of Earth to listen.”

In terms of demands, those were relatively mild to what he’d seen in the past. There was no harm in just listening, especially if they haven’t done anything to earn his distrust besides crash on his world. The Prime had been forthcoming so far. “Very well, I’ll listen to what you have to say.”

“That is all I ask.”


	2. Independence Day

Chapter 1

**A/N: hey guys, welcome back! Glad to see y’all here again for the rewrite of one of my favorite stories. And just FYI, I don’t own Transformers Prime or Young Justice.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_ **

**_ Bumblebee’s modulator _ **

** 4yrs Later, Gotham City, July 4, 12:00EDT **

Laughter filled the air as children ran around chasing various toys as their parents stood watching. Other adults others stood at grills, cooking various meals.

A cool breeze brushed through the air, causing a few to shiver at the sudden cold in the middle of summer. Many expected it to just brush by, but the temperature continued to drop, and people began to stop what they were doing, looking around as their breath became visible in the summer air. Frost developed along the grass and on chairs, causing many people to start taking hesitant steps back.

“Enjoying family time?” a echoey voice asked, sending chills up their spines as the looming figure of one of Gotham’s most infamous supervillains approached, holding a glowing cannon in hand. The cannon began to whir, a glowing blue light emanating from it before it fired. Ice spread out from its impact, trapping various people inside. “My family has other plans.”

Screams broke the tense silence as people began to run for their lives, trying to dodge icy blasts fired at them. Through the terror, Mr. Freeze stopped firing as he heard a faint but familiar cackle. Movement came from the corner of his eye, and the villain turned as his helmet thudded as something slammed against it, a flash of red and yellow leaping away and landing in the grass a few yards away as two objects slammed into his helmet, cracks spreading along the surface from the impact.

“Oh, Boy Wonder,” Freeze greeted coldly, “the Bat sent you to drag me off to prison. Frankly I’m underwhelmed.”

“Great, but I’m kind in a hurry here!” Robin replied, putting his hands on his hips as if being here was an inconvenience.

“Kids, always in such a rush.”

Even though he couldn’t see his eyes, Mr. Freeze felt the boy’s gaze flicker to him in a deadpan expression. “Not talking to you.”

At those words, the supervillain felt his stomach drop. Whirling on his heel, he turned just in time to see a bat-shaped shadow falling towards him and shattering his helmet.

-.-

** Starr City, 9:01PDT **

Brakes screeched as a figure leapt into the road. Hands slammed into the asphalt, sending a wave of ice up into the air. The sound of metal crumpling filled the air as cars slammed into the new icy barrier, cracks spreading it as the vehicles flew into the air. Landing on the ground, sparks flew into the air as glass shattered, causing the figure to laugh as icy claws grew on his fingers.

However, he didn’t get a chance to do anything else before an arrow planted itself in the ice coating his shoulder. He didn’t even hear the beeping before a blast went off, sending the icy villain flying off his feet and through his wall. Landing on the ground, he rolled to his feet ice regrowing on his hands; looking up a wide grin split his face as he saw red and green forms up above notching new arrows. “Finally,” he smirked, massive clubs of ice forming over his fists, “was wondering what it took to get some attention around here!” Lurching his arm forwards, he fired the first volley of icy spears.

“Junior’s doing this for attention?!” the red clad hero grumbled as he chased after his mentor. Icy shards bounced off his clothes, as the weapons exploded against the gates of the bridge. Leaping onto the support beams, he ran down firing an arrow that hit a forming ice wall, causing it to shatter. “I’m telling you this whole thing better not interfere!”

More ice spears flew at him, and the archer leapt in the air. Grabbing an arrow from his quiver, he loaded it and fired.

The supervillain swung his arm in an attempt to create a barrier to block the incoming projectile. However, he was too slow as it skimmed by, slamming him in the jaw. He fell to the ground unconscious as the green clad archer ran up to him, a grin on his face as he looked to his protégé, “Kid had a glass jaw.”

“Hilarious, can we go? Today’s the day!”

-.-

** Jasper **

People screamed as windows shattered, ducking for cover as ice shards reigned around them. Sharp ice spikes erupted from the ground, skewering cars parked alongside the road. A man in the middle of the road grinned as he fired icy blasts, hitting several people, coating them in ice as they attempted to make an escape.

The roar of an engine caught his attention and he turned, watching as a yellow and black muscle car sped towards him. Gritting his teeth, he fired ice shards at it, watching as they shattered against the metal of the vehicle. Smoke came from the tires as the driver hit the brakes, spinning the car to the side as the door opened, allowing a teenager with shaggy black and gold hair and in yellow and black armor leapt out, kicking him in the gut.

The ice villain skipped along the ground, getting to his feet as he looked to the angry teen. “The sidekick? Is that all I get?” he sneered. “Are the real heroes too busy to deal with me?”

“Hardly,” a deep voice rumbled from behind him. Whirling on his heel, the man paled as he saw a tall man in red and blue armor. A hand grabbed the front of his shirt and the man lifted him up, his feet trying to reach the ground as he looked up at glowing blue eyes looking down at him. “Now, Icicle Sr. either surrender quietly.”

-.-

** Pearl Harbor, 06:02HST **

Ice covered the surface of a ship as it bobbed in the waves, ropes and chains keeping the large ship tied to the dock. A woman stood across the deck firing ice from her hands as a dark-skinned teen and a man in an orange and green suit charged towards her.

The older man got encased in the ice, struggling to get out as the younger formed a weapon made of water formed in his hand. The Morningstar swung down towards her head, causing the villain to leap back and throw ice. Her toss grazed his shoulder, a thin layer of ice spreading over his skin, quickly melting under the heat of his glowing tattoos.

Nearby, his mentor shattered the ice encasing him. “Don’t tell me you’re not excited?” he asked, throwing a punch to the woman, before she leapt back, kicking him in the gut.

“Right now My King, I’m more focused on the matter at hand,” he answered, using his maces to deflect another ice blast, turning the watery weapons into solid ice. Seizing his chance, the teen ran forwards, swinging up and hitting the woman upside the head. She flew into the air, slamming onto the metal deck unconscious.

“Well?” his mentor asked.

“Yes I’m excited. Today’s the day.”

-.-

** Central City, 11:03CDT **

Sirens wailed as cop cars sat parked yards away from where two blurs circled a man dressed in winter gear. Every now and then, a blast would shoot from the trapped man, missing the red and yellow blurs, but hitting something else nearby, ice spreading from the impact.

“Stealing ice? Seriously? Isn’t that a bit cliche even for Captain Cold?” the red blur spoke.

“C’mon! We don’t have time for this!” the yellow one growled. Breaking from the pattern, Captain Cold fired, but appeared to miss as the yellow blur ran at him. He didn’t have the chance to take another shot as the gun vanished from his hands. Though, he didn’t have much time to figure out what happened before a fist hit him in the face.

Captain Cold fell to the ground as a red-clad man shook out his fist, before looking to the ginger boy wearing yellow and red by his side. “What?”

“Geez, impatient much KF?” a new voice asked and both looked up to see a redheaded girl hovering above them alongside a man in a similar looking green suit with a lantern on the front.

“Oh please,” the girl scoffed, rolling her eyes under her mask. “You two will chat it up with cops, bystanders, or even Cold. Today is not the day for you guys to get distracted.”

“Today’s the day!”

-.-

** Washington DC, 14:00EDT **

“Today’s the day,” Batman said resting his hand on his protégé’s shoulder.

“Welcome to the Hall of Justice, headquarters to the Justice League.”

They all heard a pop in the air before a glowing blue vortex opened up beside them, through it they could see two shadows approaching. A man in red and blue armor stepped out first, face hidden mostly by the battle mask of his helmet. He was following by a teen in yellow and black armor, a mask covering the lower half of his face. _“We late to the party?”_

“Nope, just in time,” Robin grinned.

“Aw man!”

At the exclamation they all turned to see their fellow proteges arriving with their mentors. Kid Flash removed his goggles, resting them on his head before he crossed his arms. “I knew we’d be the last ones here!”

“Well that’s what happened when we stop to chit-chat,” Emerald stated landing beside him.

“Hey! That wasn’t my fault!”

“I know,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I was talking to them,” she pointed to their respective mentors.

“Hey!” the pair protested.

The rest elected to ignore the elder speedster’s and Lantern’s protests as they approached the Hall of Justice. Two lines of ropes were set up, making a path for the heroes to walk down as civilians clamored around, talking and taking pictures.

“Is that Batman?”

“Whoa, Lanterns really do glow.”

“There’s Optimus and Bumblebee!”

“I see Flash and Flash Jr.”

“His name’s Speedy, duh.”

“No, Speedy’s Green Arrow’s sidekick.”

“Well that makes no sense.”

As they walked, Green Arrow leaned forwards, tapping his protégé on the shoulder, “Ready to see the inner sanctum?”

“Born ready.”

“Have all six sidekicks ever been in the same place at once?” Kid Flash asked, a wide smirk on his face.

“Don’t call us sidekicks,” Speedy scolded. “Not after today.”

“Sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

“You’re overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed why isn’t anyone just whelmed?” Robin scoffed as the glass doors to the Hall slid open. Stepping inside, they stared up at the massive golden statues of the founding members of the League. “Oh…guess that’s why.”

Across from them, a metal door slid open, allowing Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado to step out and approach the group. “Robin, Aqualad, Bumblebee, Kid Flash, Speedy, Emerald Lantern, welcome,” the Martian greeted. Motioning with his hand to follow, the teens eagerly scampered after the hero as their mentors trailed behind through the doors. “You now have full access to the gym, our fully-stocked galley, and, of course, our library.”

Stepping into the room, they could see multiple shelves, all filled to the brim with books. “Make yourselves at home,” Flash said.

Taking his word, Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad took the available seats by the monitors, leaving the other three to stand. “Quick debrief to discuss the attack of five ice villains on the same day,” Batman said. “We shouldn’t be long.”

Turning away from the confused teens, they watched as a scanner lowered from the ceiling. “Batman—02. Aquaman—06. Flash—04. Green Arrow—08. Optimus Prime—18. Martian Manhunter—07. Red Tornado—16. Green Lantern—05.”

“That’s it?!” Speedy snarled, causing all heads to turn towards him. “You promised us a real look inside! Not some glorified backstage pass!”

“It’s a first step,” Aquaman replied. “You’ve been granted access few others get.”

“Really?” he growled, pointing to the windows up above where the forms of tourists could be seen watching. “Who cares what side of the glass we’re on!”

“Roy, you just need to be patient,” Green Arrow chided gently. Stretching out a hand to his protégé, he flinched back as it was swatted aside.

“No! What I need is respect!” he snapped. Turning back to his fellow proteges, he pointed to their mentors, “They’re treating us like kids! Worse, like sidekicks! We deserve better than this!” As they looked between themselves, the redheaded archer scowled in disgust. “You’re kidding. You’re playing their game?! Why?! Today was supposed to be _the day_! Step one of becoming full-fledged members of the League!”

Kid Flashed raised a brow, looking confused. “Isn’t step one just a tour of the HQ?”

“Except the Hall isn’t the League’s real HQ!” Roy countered, causing his comrade’s eyes to widen and jaw to drop in shock. “It’s just a false front for tourists and a pit stop to catch Zeta Beam tubes to an orbiting satellite called the Watchtower.”

 _“And?”_ Bumblebee asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“And what?!” Roy demanded stepping up to his slightly taller comrade. “They were keeping this a secret from us!”

The Autobot raised a brow. _“The Watchtower wasn’t that big of a secret.”_

Emerald nodded, “Yeah, I fly by it every time I leave Earth.”

“And doesn’t it bother you that we aren’t going to see it?!”

“Been there.”

_ “Done that.” _

Speedy narrowed his eyes, “I hate both of you.”

As the teens argued, Batman gave Green Arrow a glare as the archer stared at him sheepishly. “I thought we could make an exception.” The Dark Knight’s glare narrowed at him. “Or not.”

Aquaman sighed, stepping forwards and resting a hand on Speedy’s shoulder. “You’re not helping your case here son, stand down.”

“Or what?” Speedy challenged. “You’ll send me to my room? And I’m not your son! I’m not even his.” Glaring at his mentor, he grabbed his hat, “I thought we were partners,” throwing his hat on the ground, he gave Green Arrow one last hateful glare, “but not anymore.” Whirling on his heel, the archer stomped away from them. “Guess they were right about you five; you’re not ready.”

The door slid shut behind him, leaving the room in relative stunned silence. No one was sure what to say, or how to react after the teen’s storm off. Fortunately, they were saved from initiating conversation, as the monitor beeped, and the Man of Steel appeared on the screen. “Superman to Justice League. There’s been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It’s on fire.”

“I’ve had my suspicions about Cadmus,” Batman began, “this may be the perfect time to—”

The monitor flashed again, and Arcee appeared on the other screen. “Arcee to Justice League. Cliffjumper has found the location of the Nemesis. He’s currently under Decepticon attack at an energon deposit. Requesting backup.”

“Superman?” Batman inquired.

“It’s a small fire. Local authorities have it under control.”

“Then Cadmus will wait,” Optimus said.

“Agreed,” Batman nodded, tapping his ear. “All League members, rendezvous at Arcee’s coordinates, Batman out.”

“Ratchet, we need a groundbridge,” Optimus ordered. Turning back to the teens, he gave them a look, “Stay here.”

“What? Why?” Robin protested.

“This is a League mission,” Aquaman said.

“And you’re not trained—” Green Lantern started.

“Since when?!” Emerald snapped.

“You’re not trained for missions like these,” Flash interjected.

 _“To be fair, neither are you,”_ Bumbelebee said crossing his arms. _“I’ve been fighting ‘Cons since…well since before your civilization.”_

“At ease Bumblebee,” Optimus said stepping forwards. “While it is true the Decepticons have been quiet for some time due to Megatron’s absence, it is not a reason to assume our comrades are unable to handle them. Perhaps, you could educate your friends while we are on this mission?”

_ “Wait…I’m not going?!” _

“As you said, this is a good learning experience,” the Prime answered. A groundbridge popped into existence on the far side of the room, at Batman gave the teens all pointed glares as the adults left.

Once the Vortex closed, Kid Flash threw his hands into the air in frustration, “When we’re ready?! How are we supposed to be ready when they treat us like sidekicks!”

“My mentor, my king, I thought he trusted me,” Aqualad sighed, crossing his arms.

“Trust?! They don’t even trust us with the basics! They’ve got a secret HQ _in space_!” the speedster exclaimed. “Just what else aren’t they telling us?”

“I have a better question: why didn’t you two say anything?” Robin said looking at Bumblebee and Emerald.

“Because we didn’t know it was a secret,” Emerald answered with a shrug. “I’ve flown by it hundreds of times on my way to Oa.”

_ “Bulkhead almost crashed into it when we came to Earth.” _

“Oh.”

“So,” Emerald smirked, “what exactly is Project Cadmus?” She raised a brow, looking to Bumblebee. “Well?”

_ “Why are you looking at me?” _

“Because you’re faster than Robin’s hacking,” she replied.

Glowing blue eyes rolled, _“According to the League’s database it’s a genetics lab here in DC.”_

“That’s it?”

_ “Yep.” _

“Well if Batman’s suspicious, maybe we should check it out,” Robin grinned.

“Solve their case before they do; it would be poetic justice,” Aqualad remarked.

“Hey, they’re all about justice,” Emerald said.

Aqualad gave a sigh, “But they said stay put.”

 _“For going to beat the slag outta some tinheads, not this,”_ ‘Bee countered.

“Wait, are you guys going?” Kid Flash spoke up. “Because if you’re going, I’m going!”

“Duh,” Emerald said elbowing him.

With grins the four looked to their last friend. “Just like that,” Aqualad sighed, “We’re a team on a mission.”

“We didn’t come for a playdate.”

-.-

** Nemesis, 11:23PCT **

A man in scorched red armor grunted as two men in identical violet armor tossed him to the ground. Glowing blue blood trickled from his lip as he pushed himself up, solid blue eyes locking onto a spindly form right in front of him. The petite form turned, and red eyes met his as a wicked grin formed on the Con’s face.

Putting on a brave face, Cliffjumper, gave a sneer. “Hey Screamer,” he greeted. “Where’s you’re master?”

The second in command of the Decepticons scowled, backhanding him. Blue liquid trickled from the new gashes on the Autobot’s cheek from his claws. “Never mind him! I am my own master!” Heels clicked against the floors of the ship as Starscream got closer, kneeling down and meeting the Autobot’s eyes. “Now, tell me where your base is; I might be willing to show you mercy if you do.”

Cliffjumper spat energon from his mouth, spattering it across the seeker’s face. “Go frag yourself.”

Starscream gave an angry growl and swung his hand forwards. There was a sharp pain in Cliffjumper’s chest, and he looked down, staring as the sharp claws dug into his chest, practically tearing at his spark. “Anything else you’d like to say, Cliffjumper?” Starscream smirked. “No? Oh well.” Wearing a grin, Starscream slowly pulled his talons from the Autobot’s sparkchamber, his own spark fluttering in glee as he watched the light of the eyes flicker into black. The body crumpled to the ground, energon pooling around, causing the seeker to step back as it almost touched his boots. “Clean that up!”

-.-

** Outside Jasper **

“CLIFF!” Arcee called as she and the other heroes searched around what used to be an energon deposit.

They could all tell as soon as they arrived that there had been a fight, a vicious one. Scorch marks were burned into the ground and rocks around them, and the volatile blue flames on energon burned around what appeared to be the remains of fractured crystals.

“Arcee!” Flash called. Speeding over, he stopped beside the woman holding something in his hand.

Arcee’s eyes widened as she quickly grabbed the broken silver horn. “It’s Cliff’s.”

Prime frowned at her words, turning to the older man clad in bulky red and white armor. “Ratchet, can you get a lock on Cliffjumper’s coordinates.”

The medic nodded, opening the scanner on his arm. A blip appeared on the screen for a moment before vanishing from existence. “No…” Ratchet hissed. “Cliffjumper’s life signal just went offline.”

“Then he’s on the ‘Con’s warship right?” Green Lantern said. “It blocks life signals…right?”

“Then we can only hope we can find him, before it’s too late.”

-.-

** Washington D.C. 14:41EDT **

“HELP!”

“GET US DOWN!”

Watching the scientists above, a firefighter grabbed a megaphone. “Stay put! We will get you down!”

Unfortunately, he didn’t have the chance to follow through on that promise. Glass reigned down on them as an explosion rocked the building, sending the scientists flying. Gravity soon took over, sending the pair plummeting towards the asphalt below.

A red and yellow blur raced past them, snatching the men from the air as they fell. Kid Flash tossed the pair on the roof as he started to lose traction. His fingers scraped against concrete before he grunted as his arms were almost yanked from his sockets as he managed to get a grip on a windowsill.

“It’s what’s his name…Flash Boy!” he heard one of the firefighters exclaim.

“IT’S KID FLASH!” he shouted. “Why is that so hard?”

“Smooth,” Robin smirked as the others caught up to the speedster.

“Does he always have to run ahead?” Aqualad grumbled. “We need a plan…” looking around he found himself standing on the ground, alone. “Guys?”

Up above, he could see Emerald lowering the civilians trapped on the roof down to the ground. And he could see Robin leaping through the window and grabbing KF. And since Bumblebee was nowhere to be seen, it wasn’t hard to assume he was already inside.

Grabbing his water-bearers, he ran up to the firefighters. “I need to borrow that!” he called.

The men gave surprised exclamations as the flow of water followed his command, forming a platform under his feet. Lifting himself to the window, he jumped inside before motioning the torrent to spray down on the remaining flames.

“Well you guys certainly didn’t waste time,” Aqualad remarked.

 _“Em had it,”_ Bumblebee answered.

“Besides, we’re here to investigate,” Robin agreed. “Poetic justice, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, we know,” Emerald waved him off. Stepping out into the dark hall, her brows shot up as she saw something in the closing elevator doors.

Kid Flash heard it too, because he was by her side in a second. “Elevators are supposed to be locked down.”

The others peered around the door, and Robin was the first to move. Stepping up to the elevator, a frown crossed the Boy Wonder’s face. “This is wrong.” Raising his arm, he tapped his glove and a holographic screen popped up over his arm. “Thought so. This is a high-speed express elevator. It doesn’t belong in a two-story building.”

“Neither does whatever was in it,” Emerald commented.

A hand tapped her shoulder, and Emerald stepped aside, allowing Bumblebee to walk past her. Approaching the doors, he tapped on them, seeming to be analyzing something. The sound of metal crunching echoed down the hall as the Cybertronian forced his hand through the doors, forcefully creating an opening for them to go through. Bumblebee gave a whistle as he looked down the shaft, _“Well, that explains the need for the express elevator.”_

The others peered past him, eyes wide as they stared down the dark abyss. “No kidding,” Robin said, reaching into his belt. He pulled out a grapple, firing up at the ceiling. With a tug on the rope, the Boy Wonder leapt into the abyss.

“Wait up!” Kid Flash called, leaping onto the line and sliding down.

Emerald sighed, shaking her head, “I could’ve carried y’all.” Floating into the shaft, she formed a small platform so Aqualad and ‘Bee could get on before following after their comrades.

“I’m out of rope,” Robin said as he came to a stop. Leaping to the side of the elevator, he watched as KF slid down, and swung his legs a few times before jumping over. The speedster’s arms flailed for a moment and Robin pulled him from falling further down the shaft.

Pulling out a wire, Robin began hacking into the door as Emerald caught up with the others. The elevator doors slid open, allowing the group to step out. Unlike the levels above, he hall they ended up in seemed to be some sort of red tunnel with dark yellow almost sacks against the walls. 

_“Welcome to Project Cadmus,”_ Bumblebee said.

“Creepy,” Emerald said.

Beside them, Kid Flash lowered his goggles and took off down the hall without warning. Ignoring the echoing protests of his friends. Zipping around a corner, the speedster slid to a stop, and tripped, rolling into the middle of the hallway. Right into the path of multiple, giant, grey, gorilla-looking things with horns stomping towards him.

The speedster yelped as something grabbed his leg, yanking him out of the hall before one of them could potentially crush him. “Nope,” Emerald muttered. “Nothing weird going on here.”

“What the hell are these things?” Kid said.

_ “No idea, but we’re not going anywhere until we find out.” _


	3. Discoveries

Chapter 2

**A/N: hey everyone, welcome back. Good to be back! And thanks for the reviews. Glad to see y’all’re liking the changes I’ve been making so far. Remember, I just own my story, I don’t own Transformers Prime or Young Justice.**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_ **

**_ “Bumblebee talking.” _ **

** Nemesis, July 4, 15:37PDT **

The doors to the bridge hissed open as a tall, wry figure stepped in. Troopers who had turned to see who entered immediately adverted their eyes from the faceless man as he strode across the room silently. He walked onto the platform where Starscream stood working on something, and stopped behind the seeker.

Unperturbed by the silent man’s appearance, Starscream didn’t bother turning his head from the screen as he continued to type. “Soundwave, what is it?”

_ “Like Jasper, Nevada’s a party? We’re still alone wherever we travel on this rock Cliff.” _

The seeker stopped typing. Despite the mechanical whir to the voice, he still was able to recognize it. No doubt it was that same Autobot who tried to help Cliffjumper blow him to smithereens eons ago. “Ah, Arcee,” he smirked, turning to face the third in command of the Decepticons. “When snuff one Autobot when we still have the advantage of surprise?”

He expected a nod of agreement, but the black screen covering Soundwave’s face flickered. _“Arcee to Justice League, Cliff has been captured by Decepticons,”_ the recording said.

Starscream growled. So much for the advantage of surprise. It seemed like that infernal Autobot still managed to alert his comrades before his men could subdue him. Which meant, the Autobots and their pesky human pets would be looking for them. “Thank you for the warning, Soundwave.”

Turning back to his screen, he continued his work, trying to not focus on the fact that those fools had completely and utterly exposed their entire operation. Prime no doubt knew for certain that they had not left Earth like he wanted them to believe. It would only be a matter of time before one of their operations was discovered.

A chill ran up his spine, and the seeker turned, red eyes widening slightly as he noticed that Soundwave was still looming behind him, as silent and emotionless as ever. “Yes, Soundwave?” he asked, this time a bit more cautiously. It wasn’t like the silent spy to stay longer than necessary. Even Starscream would admit he was one—if not the most efficient person in the Decepticons.

His screen beeped and Starscream leaned in. It was a frequency, with an embedded message. Unlike a message he would’ve expected, this one was written in human.

They had a message, from humans about a time and place to meet. It was preposterous. Their race had no need to interact with such weak fleshlings. Yet, he found himself intrigued. What humans would be bold enough to directly contact him and his army? It certainly wasn’t from any of Earth’s governments, he knew that much. Which meant, this was someone who was either setting a trap or looking for an alliance.

Either way, both merited looking into.

-.-

** Washington D.C. 18:44EDT **

“Ok, I’m officially whelmed,” Robin said as the door hissed open.

The others didn’t bother to comment, as they were too busy focusing on the dozens of tubes lining the walls on either side of them. Within each tube, they could see a strange gray creature with what appeared to be lightning zapping off of it.

“So this is how this place stays off the grid,” Robin realized. “They generate their own electricity with these…things. Must be what they’re bred for.”

“Of course, even the name is a clue,” Aqualad spoke up. “The Cadmus of myth created a new race by sowing dragon’s teeth into the earth.”

“Should we call the League?” Kid Flash asked.

“And let them take over our investigation?” Emerald scoffed. “Geez cuz, where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Hey guys,” Robin called, “I think I got something.” Typing on a monitor, the others gathered around the small form. “They call them Genomorphs.” Scrolling down the screen, the Boy Wonder whistled. “Geez, look at the stats on these things! Super-strength, telepathy, razor claws—these things are living weapons!”

 _“They’re making an army,”_ Bumblebee said, his brows furrowing as he set his palm on the monitor. Robin yelped as the screen began rolling rapidly, lines of unreadable code flashing rapidly across the screen. _“It doesn’t say for who, but, there are two other projects going on here: Project Blockbuster and Project Kr. Blockbuster seems to be a chemistry project. Kr…I’m not sure, even after breaking through the encryptions, they didn’t have much. They did have—”_

“DON’T MOVE!” a voice demanded and all the teens turned to see a man in a gold helmet and black and grey suit run in with several of the genomorphs. The man paused, blinking as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Wait…Aqualad? Robin? Kid Flash, Emerald Lantern, Bumblebee?”

“I know you,” Aqualad said after a moment. “You’re Guardian, a hero.”

The man relaxed, putting his hands on his hips, “I do my best. But here, I’m Chief of Security. You’re trespassing; but we can call the Justice League, figure this out without drastic measures.”

“And do you think the League’s gonna approve of you breeding weapons?!” Kid Flash snapped, pointing to the pods embedded into the chamber walls.

“Weapons?” Guardian scoffed. “What are you…What have I…” he groaned, holding his head for a moment. His eyes opened, looking back at them all, the previous warmth that had been there gone. “Take them down hard! No mercy!”

The genomorphs by him snarled as they lunged forwards.

Smoke filled the room as Robin slammed a smoke bomb on the ground. Creating a cover for them to escape. Kid Flash rolled back as one of the creatures swung its claws at him, he leapt to the wall, pushing himself off of it and ramming into one of the genomorphs. Springing back to his feet, he raised his fists ready to face the other two when a glowing green hammer, slammed them aside and Emerald landed beside him.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

There was a cry of pain from their right and they turned to see Aqualad shocking Guardian. The man stumbled and the Atlantean took the opportunity to throw a punch sending the man flying back. Nodding to his friends, the took off down the hall, eventually catching up with Robin and Bumblebee.

“Way to be a team player guys!” Kid Flash exclaimed.

“Weren’t you right behind us?” Robin asked as he continued to type.

The elevator doors slid open and they scrambled to get in as the monsters attacking them came around the corner giving chase. By their side, the armor on Bumblebee’s forearm shifted to reveal a blaster. Placing himself between his friends and the creatures, ‘Bee opened fire, as the doors started to slowly slide shut; several of the creatures crying out in pain as they were hit.

“Nice aim,” Kid Flash said.

_ “I’ve had practice.” _

“Hey, am I the only one wondering why we’re going down?!” Emerald exclaimed, pointing at the screen saying what floor they were on.

“Dude! Out is up!”

 _“And Project Kr is on sublevel fifty-two,”_ Bumblebee countered.

Aqualad groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. “This is out of control. Perhaps we should contact the League.”

The others stayed silent at he comment, and were saved from answering as the elevator dinged. The doors creaked as they slid open, revealing a hall just as creepy as they ones they saw earlier. “Well, we’re already here, might as well check it out,” Emerald said as she floated forwards.

“Which way?” Aqualad grumbled, stepping out from the elevator.

“Yeah,” Robin huffed, “Creepy hall one or creepy hall two?”

“HALT!”

Eyes widened as another strange being came around the corner of the first hall. This one looked slightly more humanoid than the other ones had been, and wore white clothes and had a massive pair of horns on his head. His dark eyes and horned glowed red and several boxes floated up into the air and flew at them.

The teens ducked as the crates exploded above them and Robin tossed something at the being, only for it to be stopped midair. As more objects started to lift into the air, the group made a hasty retreat down the other hall, hearing explosions behind them.

Kid Flash raced ahead, making a turn and barreling into a woman. Scrambling back to his feet, he looked to the door she came from and saw the label of Project Kr on it. He looked around for something to hold the slowly closing doors, and was saved by a green light rushing past him.

“I got it!” Emerald called, floating a few feet away, a green construct holding the doors apart.

Seizing their chance, the group of teens raced inside, allowing the doors to seal behind them. “I disabled the door, we’re safe,” Robin panted.

“We’re trapped,” Aqualad corrected.

 _“Guys,”_ Bumblebee interjected. _“You need to see this.”_ Pressing a button the lights turned on, revealing a single pod in the room. It was what was inside that shocked them.

A boy, about their age stood within the pod in a white suit with a familiar red S symbol on his chest. He appeared to be unconscious as three little versions of the creatures stood above him.

“Holy shit,” Kid Flash muttered approaching the pod. “Big K little R; the atomic symbol for Krypton. Clone?”

“Robin, Bumeblee,” Aqualad demanded.

“Right,” the Boy Wonder sputtered. Pulling a cord out from his glove he reached to plug it in when Bumblebee stopped him. Nodding to the older teen, they watched as he placed his hand on the pad and data began to flash across various screens.

_ “Weapon designation: Superboy. A Clone force-grown in sixteen weeks from DNA acquired from Superman.” _

“More like stolen from Superman,” Emerald growled.

“No way the big guy knows about this,” Kid Flash agreed.

_ “The white solar suit allows him to absorb yellow-sun radiation on a twenty-four hour basis.” _

“And those things?” Aqualad asked, pointing to the littler creatures.

_ “Genomorph Gnomes. Telepathically force-feeding him an education.” _

“And who knows what else,” Robin muttered.

“Yeah,” Emerald nodded, “They’re making a slave out of, well, Superman’s som.”

“Now we contact the League,” Aqualad stated.

All five began to try to make contact, tapping their comms and locators. _“No signal.”_

“We’re in too deep, literally,” Robin said.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that this is wrong,” Kid Flash reminded.

Robin nodded in agreement, “We can’t leave him like this.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Emerald replied.

Aqualad stayed silent before nodding in agreement. “Set him free. Do it.”

Bumblebee nodded, quickly tapping a few controls.

They all looked as the pod hissed open, the sides retreating into the floor and ceiling. As if aware of his new freedom, the boy’s hand flexed into a tight fist and blue eyes snapped open.

Then, without warning, he leapt at them.

Aqualad grunted as what felt like a cannon slammed into him. Rolling along the floor, the Atlantean found himself pinned to the ground as the clone sat on top of him. His fists collided with his face in a powerful succession of blows, and the others raced over.

“Whoa!” Robin exclaimed as he stood with KF and Emerald trying to hold back one of his fists as ‘Bee restrained the other arm. “Hold on there Supey.”

“We’re on your side.”

The boy didn’t appear to care as he managed to slip his wrist free. A fist collided with Kid Flash’s jaw, knocking the speedster back into the lantern. Both went fly across the room, crashing through one of the glass columns before hitting the wall and falling to the floor, unconscious.

“I don’t want to do this!” Robin said as he slammed one of his disks onto the clone’s chest. He and Bumblebee leapt back as it exploded, a large cloud of gas bursting to life around the teen. Aqualad, took his chance and kicked the teen back, sending him crashing through one of the desks.

He got back to his feet and two wire chords hit his chest and electricity flowed down them as Robin attempted to tase him. Unfortunately, it didn’t appear to be working. The Boy Wonder yelped as a hand grabbed the wires and yanked him off his feet. A fist collided with his jaw and Robin felt the air get knocked from his lungs as his back slammed into the ground. Unfortunately, he didn’t have much of a chance to recover, as a foot slammed onto his chest with enough force to crack at least a few ribs.

“ENOUGH!” Aqualad shouted, swining a hammer and hitting the boy across the face.

Superboy flew across the room, slamming into the metal sheet that had been the back of his pod. Aqualad, glanced back at his teammate, watching as Bumblebee quickly moved their comrades out from harms way with practiced efficiency.

Footsteps caught his attention and Aqualad held up a hand, meeting the eyes of the strange boy. “We’re trying to help you.”

His words didn’t appear to change anything as he lunged at him again.

But this time, Aqualad was ready. Dodging to the side, a fist slammed into the spot where’d he’d just been standing, cracks spreading across the floor. Leaping at the clone, Aqualad grunted as he was essentially backhanded into one of the cavern walls. Leaping out, he dodged another punched before managing to get the clone’s back to him. Seizing his chance, Aqualad wrapped his arms around the boy’s shoulders restraining his movement. “I am sorry to do this, but you leave me no choice.” With that apology, his tattoos began glowing and Superboy screamed as electricity arched over his frame.

Suddenly they were airborne and Aqualad felt the air leave his lungs as his back collided with the rocky ceiling. Before he could attempt to catch it, Superboy grabbed the boy from off his back and hurled him into the wall, knocking him out.

Superboy didn’t stop to bask in his apparent victory as he turned towards the door. Unfortunately, he forgot about the last hero in the room.

The clone grunted as a powerful blow slammed into his gut and he slammed through the crumpled remains of his pod, glass shattering as the G-gnomes fell to the ground. Growling in anger, the Kryptonian leapt at the armored figure who attacked him.

What he didn’t expect was for them to stop his punch with one hand. Cold glowing blue and black eyes regarded him and Superboy grunted as the fist holding his hand began to squeeze. He hadn’t felt this kind of pain before, it was like his hand was in a squeezing vice.

Gritting his teeth, the clone attempted to throw another punch only for that hand to be caught too. And then, Bumblebee began to push him back towards the ground. Superboy’s eyes began to widen, he was supposed to be strong enough to challenge Superman, but he wasn’t aware that there was anything stronger than him. The clone grit his teeth as rage filled him. He couldn’t be beaten, he wouldn’t.

The ground cracked under his feet as he leapt. Only he didn’t get far as the grip on his hands tightened and he was slammed into the ground with enough force to create a crater in the floor. Superboy stumbled to his feet, only for a boot to hit his nose, creating a sickening crack in the room as he was slammed into the door, creating a dent in the metal. He looked up to see a yellow and black blur fly towards him.

He was distinctly aware of the roar of tearing metal around him as he was suddenly flying through the air and slammed on the ground before Dubbilex. A hand helped him to his feet and the other genomorphs around him bristled as the Cybertronian stepped through the ruined door.

“TAKE HIM DOWN!” Dr. Desmond ordered scrambling away from the hero.

Several of the genomorphs rushed at him, and Bumblebee rolled aside as the first one leapt at him. The metal of his armor sparked as claws tried to rake across it, barely even leaving a scratch in the paint. Grabbing the tail of one of the creatures, Bumblebee swung it into one of its comrades, before another one leapt on his back, it’s claws trying to dig into the open skin on his face.

Fortunately for him, these things were nowhere near strong enough to break through his skin. He slammed his back into the door, the metal groaning as it was put under forces it probably couldn’t take.

It was then something slammed into his side. His back skidded against the ground as Superboy straddled his chest. A hand reached into his hair and the clone pulled before forcefully slamming his head into the ground, repeatedly until everything went dark.

-.-

** Bialya, July 5, UTC 01:23UTC **

A cool breeze brushed sand over a tarmac, ruffling the dark hair of a woman as she stepped out of a truck. Her dark, almost lavender colored eyes sweeped over the tarmac, her gaze landing on a large form standing a few meters away with a smaller form with a cape and a larger man standing just a few feet away as a bodyguard.

The tallest of the group turned towards her, the scars crossing his face becoming visible in the moonlight. “Queen Bee,” he smiled. “Thank you for hosting this impromptu meeting.”

She smiled as the immortal kissed her hand. “It was no problem Savage. But, I do wonder what it is you wish to discuss?”

“As do I,” an accented voice spoke as the other man approached, his green cape flaring out behind him in the desert winds. “It is not like you to insist on something without a reason as to why.”

“And all will be revealed in time “Ra’s,” Savage replied. “Where are the others?”

“Luthor is tied up in Metropolis,” a robotic voice spoke and they all turned to greet their fellow ally as he rolled up to them, the brain in the clear glass dome on top bobbing lightly as he approached. “As for ze Ocean Master, even if he could make it, I doubt he could handle the hostile desert environment.”

“And Klarion?” Ra’s questioned.

As if on cue, a red portal opened to their right and a young man jumped out, a tabby in his arms. Seeing them, the horned-haired man gave a wicked grin. “Did someone call?”

“Klarion,” Savage greeted.

The chaos lord didn’t return the greeting as he walked to them, his cat moving to rest on his shoulders. “So, is it time yet? I’ve been waiting eons to cause this much chaos.”

“Not yet Klarion,” Savage answered causing the younger-looking one to pout. “No, I have summoned us here for a different matter. An alliance.”

“Our partner?” Queen Bee said narrowing her eyes. “Are they backing out?”

“No, what I propose is a new alliance,” the immortal smirked. “One who would be much more powerful than our new partner.”

“You have our attention old friend.”

“I’m sure you all know of the Autobots?”

“How could we not?” Queen Bee growled. “They’ve foiled more plans of mine than any other member of the League.”

“And I know Luthor is interested in their technology,” Ra’s commented.

“Yes, and what if I told you we could get access to that technology?” Savage grinned. “Resources and forces unlike anything that we’ve ever seen.”

Klarion snickered, “You really think those goody-two-shoes are going to change sides?”

“Hardly,” Savage replied. “But, I have learned that the Autobots are not the only Cybertronians on Earth. And from what my sources tell me, these ones will be more likely to consider an alliance.”

“Who are they?”

“I believe you are about to find out.”

A strange crackle filled the air, making their hair stand on end. Several meters away from them, a familiar glowing blue vortex opened. From the inside, they could see several tall forms approaching.

From the sidelines, the villains could see their men preparing their weapons, looking wary. However, Savage raised his hand to stop them, and he put his hand behind his back, standing tall as the first figure stepped out. The man was tall, almost as Savage, however, he was thin. Even with the grey and red armor on they could see he was quite skinny. Glowing red eyes locked on them, a scowl forming on the Cybertronian’s face.

With a sneer, he turned to face the second one who exited the portal. And, unlike the first one, this one was truly scary. First of all, they couldn’t see his face, just a helmet with a dark visor. He was tall too, probably just a smidge taller than Savage, and while he was wry, something about the violet armored man made them uneasy.

Like them, these beings seemed to have brought their own security. However, where their men knew they would be among comrades, these ones were armed to the teeth. Violet armor covered them head to toe, the only thing visible being glowing red eyes.

“Soundwave, are you sure these are the right coordinates?” the lanky man grumbled.

Without a word, the taller one just gave a nod.

The first one huffed in irritation, and the tall heels of his boots clicked against the ground as he stepped towards them. “Tell me _humans_ : Why have you summoned me here?” Razor sharp claws scratched against his chest as a malicious smirk crossed his face. “You better have a good excuse.”

“I am Vandal Savage, and these are my partners: Queen Bee, Ra’s al Ghul, the Brain, and Klarion Witch Boy. We have invited you here to offer an alliance.”

Red eyes narrowed, and glanced between them calculatingly. “And tell me, why should I ally myself and my resources to you? I trust you have something to offer.”

“Indeed,” Savage answered. He waved his hand and his allies watched as several trucks with large blue crystals rolled in. “Another partner of ours managed to locate this for one of his projects, but, I believe you will have more use for it.”

The Cybertronian leader waved his hand, and one of the troopers went over and inspected the truck. Picking up a piece, he strode back over and handed the glowing blue gem to his commander. Red eyes inspected it carefully, before glancing back at them. “And? I trust this wasn’t you only offering. We already control more energon mines on this rock than you know. The contents of many far exceed this.”

“I know you are no friend of the Autobots. We could help you get rid of them. It would be mutually beneficial.”

“Oh, and how do you claim to accomplish such a task?”

“We are currently working on something that will destroy them, and their allies the Justice League. And, we will allow you to serve with us as one of the heads of our operations.”

The man seemed to contemplate for a moment, before giving them a grin that could almost make the Joker jealous. “If what you say is true, you can have my support, but, if it isn’t…you scratch my paint, I scratch yours.”

Queen Bee smiled, this was good. These were enemies of the League, more importantly, they were the same race as some of their biggest powerhouses. Who could tell all the resources they could bring to the table. “We thank you for your support…?”

“Starscream. Commander Starscream.”

“Thank you, Commander Starscream,” she inclined her head.

Yes, this was the start of a wonderful alliance.


	4. Freedom

Chapter 3

**A/N: hey everyone. Glad to see y’all back. Hope y’all’re enjoying the story so far. I'm enjoying working on it again and I think in the end, it’s going to be a lot better than when I initially wrote this.**

**Anyways, I just own the story, Emerald belongs to my friend Sil Vaturha 98, nothing else is mine. And please let me know what y'all think so far.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_ **

**_ “Bumblebee talking.” _ **

** Washington D.C. July 5 00:01EDT. **

_“Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken now!”_

Pain stabbed through his skull and glowing blue eyes snapped open as Bumblebee’s consciousness returned to him with the speed of a lob. The first thing he noticed was that his comrades were trapped in pods similar to the one they found the clone in, however they had metal cuffs on all their wrists, keeping them contained.

Tugging at his own limbs, he could feel the sensation of something pressing restraining his movements. Not that he was surprised, if his less dangerous friends were restrained, of course he was too.

“What do you want?!” Kid Flash exclaimed and Bumblebee followed his gaze, eyes narrowing at the clone. He was so going to kick his aft later. “Quit staring! You’re creeping me out!”

“KF,” Emerald spoke up, looking annoyed, “how about we not tick off the guy who can fry us with a look.”

Bumblebee rolled his eyes, yeah right. He saw the clone’s stats. He wasn’t even a full Kryptonian, he doubted he had all their powers. And, if he did, he would’ve used them to fairly try to win their fight; not use the monsters like a Decepticon coward.

“We only sought to help you,” Aqualad said.

“Yeah! We free you and you turn on us! How is that for—”

“KF, shut up,” Emerald snapped, glaring at the speedster. “I don’t think our new friend was in full control of his actions.

“Whaa…What if I wasn’t?” the clone, Superboy, managed to reply.

“He can talk?!”

The Kryptonian clone glared at him, “Yes. He can.”

“Not like he said it,” Robin commented.

“The genomorphs taught you, telepathically,” Aqualad remarked.

Superboy gave a curt nod. “They taught me many things. I can read, write. I know the names of things.”

“But have you ever seen them?” Robin inquired. “Have they ever let you see the sky? Or the sun?”

“Images are implanted in my mind,” he answered. “But no, I have not seen them.”

“Do you know what you are?” Emerald asked. “Who you are?”

“I am Superboy, a genomorph, grown from the DNA of Superman. Created to replace him should he perish, to destroy him should he turn from the Light.”

Behind his mask, ‘Bee frowned. He did not like the implications of those words. _“To be like Superman is a worthy aspiration. But like him you deserve a life of you own. Beyond this place.”_

“I live because of this place!” Superboy snarled. “It’s my home!”

“Your home is a test tube,” Robin reminded. “We can show you the sun.”

“Dude, it’s half past midnight by now,” KF muttered. “But we can show you the moon.”

Pulling at his restraints, the metal groaned and Bumblebee ripped himself from the wall. glass broke around him and he landed on the ground, putting his hands on his hips as he regarded the clone. He didn’t like him, and he certainly didn’t trust him. But, of there was a chance he could be redeemed from his past mistakes, now was it. _“We can show you, introduce you, to Superman. If you prove you aren’t our enemy. We can give you freedom. I doubt any of the scientists here have ever offered that.”_ Without waiting for an answer, ‘Bee went over to the controls, quickly pressing the buttons to release his comrades. The glass pulled back as the cuffs unclicked allowing the other four to land on the ground, rubbing their wrists.

“Finally, Batman would kill me if I took any longer,” Robin muttered.

“Seriously, the whole League’s gonna have our heads after tonight!” Kid Flash exclaimed.

“Guys, now’s not the time!” Emerald snapped.

The metal doors behind them slid open and the scientists stood in the doorway looking shocked. Taking their surprise to his advantage, Kid Flash charged forwards, knocking the men and women off their feet. “What’re we waiting for?!”

Following his lead, the others raced past them, down the hall. “We’re still forty-two levels below ground, but if we can make the elevator we can get out of here!” Kaldur said.

Unfortunately, that plan was cut short as several of the giant gorilla-like genomorphs stomped into their path. Skidding to a stop, they looked behind them to see more of the smaller sharp-clawed ones bounding up behind them. Without a word, the five more experienced members charged forwards, weaving quickly between the massive fists of the giant monsters. However, one member of their rag-tag team, did not get the memo. The walls of the underground tunnel shook, causing dust to fall down towards them.

With wide eyes, the others whipped on their heels and stared as Superboy tossed another of the gigantic genomorphs aside, cracks forming in the cavern walls from the impact. “Superboy!” Aqualad called. “The goal is to escape! Not to bury us here!”

“YOU WANNA ESCAPE!” the clone screamed picking up another one and hurling it into its buddied.

 _“Yes, we do!”_ Bumblebee growled grabbing the clone by his collar. Yanking him off his feet, the scout caught up with the others as Emerald forced the elevator doors open to the empty shaft. Robin pulled out his grapple, shooting to a higher floor as Kid Flash and Aqualad ran onto the green platform Emerald made as Bumblebee dropped Superboy before jumping with enough force to leave cracks in the ground. The scout landed higher up, quickly climbing up the shaft.

“Superboy! You coming?!” Emerald exclaimed.

Superboy scowled, he didn’t like orders, but right now it didn’t look like he had much of a choice. It was these guys or back to the pod. And he did not want to go back in the pod. Nodding, he leapt from the ground, expecting to fly. However, just when it seemed like it would be fine, he started to fall.

But he didn’t fall long before slamming into the glowing green platform made by the lantern. “Superman can fly. Why can’t I fly?”

“Don’t know, but it still looks like you can leap tall buildings in a single bound; still cool,” the speedster replied.

“Guys! This’ll have to be our exit!” Robin called, drawing attention to the elevator descending towards them.

Wasting little time, Emerald didn’t bother to try to force the doors opened before using one of her constructs to just blast through it. And none of them wasted any time going through the newfound hole in the wall before the elevator sped past them. “Too close.”

“You said it!” Kid Flash agreed as they started running again. “Where now?”

_“Turn left brother.”_

Superboy blinked in surprise, that voice, it didn’t sound like his. But…then again, maybe now wasn’t the best time to question the idea of hearing voices in his head. “Go left!”

The others glanced back at him, but didn’t question before following his instructions.

_“Turn right.”_

“Right!”

Making the turn, the clone slid to a stop, his momentary elation from taking command shattered as he stared at a dead end. “Are you trying to get us caught?!” Kid Flash snarled.

“I…I don’t understand.”

“Don’t apologize!” the Boy Wonder grinned. “This is perfect!”

They all looked at him weirdly, until he pulled the vent cover off and climbed inside. At the sight, there were a few groans of annoyance, but, albeit reluctantly, they crawled into the vents.

“At this rate we’ll never get out,” Kid Flash muttered.

“Well we all can’t run at the speed of sound!” Emerald griped.

“Shh!” Superboy interrupted before the speedster could say something back to the redheaded girl. “Listen.”

The other teens went quiet and Superboy could see the glowing eyes of the clearly nonhuman member of the group narrow. _“They’re behind us, three turns down. Robin?”_

“Already on it.”

-.-

** Nemesis, 00:45EDT **

Starscream tapped on his monitor looking through the Data his new _allies_ in the Light provided. So far, it seemed relatively thorough, for a lesser race. Though, he would admit, their long-term plans seemed rather…unlikely. He highly doubted they could do everything they wanted to achieve. And the humans clearly underestimated the races they wanted to take over.

They would be crushed like the bugs they were, once they outlived their usefulness to him and the Decepticons.

Because, if any race had the right to rule the galaxy, it was the people of Cybertron. They’d been around longer than almost every single known race. They’d conquered the galaxy before and were worshiped as gods for eons. Until that coward Sentinel Prime determined that keeping control of their empire was too much work and he established that fragging caste system that caused all this in the first place.

Quiet footsteps from behind him pulled Starscream from his musing of universal domination and he turned to face Soundwave. His visor flashed and red eyes narrowed. “That signal is emanating from deep space,” he noticed. “It would be a shame to waste the energon.”

As usual Soundwave didn’t answer, but that didn’t stop the Commander from feeling something lurking on the edge of his consciousness, waiting to strike like a razor-gezri.

“Fine,” Starscream yielded. “Activate the spacebridge.”

-.-

** Washington D.C. **

“I hacked the motion sensors,” Robin grinned proudly.

“Sweet.”

“Still plenty of them between us and out though,” Emerald reminded.

“Yeah,” Kid Flash said waving her off. “But I’ve finally got room to move!” With that declaration, the red and yellow blur raced down the halls and through a doors, leaving a trail of genomorphs sprawled on the ground in his wake as he raced up the stairs.

“More behind us!” Robin called.

Stopping, Superboy, slammed his foot against the step below him. Cracks formed in the foundation and with a second kick, he watched as the stairs collapsed with the genomorphs on it.

Finally making it to the last sublevel, Kid Flash continued ahead, watching as two massive doors slow slid closed in front of him. Picking up speed, he hoped to squeeze through and at least be able to tell the League what happened so he could get his friends help.

However, the loud clang that reverberated in his ears and pain suddenly radiating through him said he wasn’t successful. Slamming to the ground, he sat up, rubbing his head as he looked at the closed doors. “Ow.”

“We’re cut off from the street,” Aqualad said.

“Thanks, my head hadn’t noticed,” Kid Flash muttered. “I’m fine by the way.”

The others didn’t acknowledge him as they worked to try to force the doors open. Emerald’s ring glowed and a thin line shot out, and he could see her trying to force a wedge into the microscopic gap between where the metal doors connected. On either side, Bumblebee, Superboy, and Aqualad were working to force the doors open.

But, before any progress could be made, they all heard the heavy stomps of the giant creatures approaching. Robin ran to the side, kicking a door next to him. “This way!”

Running inside, it proved to be the wrong way. Inside, they were surrounded. The small red horns of the gnomes began to glow, causing Aqualad, KF, and Robin to collapse to the floor, leaving Bumblebee, Emerald, and Superboy standing confused.

 _“Perhaps for the sake of all genomorphs our brother Superboy should make up his own mind,”_ a familiar voice spoke in the clone’s head.

And this time, he was able to connect the voice to the face of the tall horned one. _“It was you?”_

_“Yes, brother. I set the fire that lured your new friends down to Cadmus, woke them when they were in danger…”_

_“And guided me,”_ Superboy finished. _“Why?”_

_“Because you are our hope: the Genomorph Hero. You shall blaze a trail for all our brothers, showing them the way to freedom.”_

Looking around, he could see it. Before, Superboy had been so focused on escaping, he hadn’t noticed the look in the creatures’ eyes. There was longing, pain.

_“What is your choice brother?”_

“I…I choose freedom,” he answered.

At his words, the red glows from the horns stopped and he heard groans as the three who passed out regained consciousness. Across from them, Guardian rubbed his head, “It…it feels like fog lifting.” Looking at them, a stormy look settled on the older man’s face. “Go, I’ll deal with Desmond.”

“Oh, won’t you now?” a snide voice drawled.

Like the Red Sea, the genomorphs parted to reveal Dr. Desmond, a glowing blue vial in his hand. Loose hair came from his ponytail as he looked at all of them wildly, his face almost in a feral snarl. “Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus.” Removing the cork from the test tube, he dumped the contents down his throat.

And he immediately doubled over. The man screamed as his muscles began to bulge before their eyes, the pale skin tearing to reveal something grey with red marks underneath. His dark eyes somehow became darker, turning black with small red specks in the center as the skin continued to tear. A massive snarl filled the room and the beast rose to its full height.

Then it charged.

“Stand back!” Guardian ordered. However, he was just swatted aside as the monster continued its charge.

With an angry shout, Superboy leapt forwards, intending to punch the daylights out of Desmond. Instead Desmond grabbed him and threw him through the ceiling.

“Well that’s one way to get out,” Emerald remarked. “Think lab coat planned that?”

Beside her Bumblebee rolled his eyes, _“I doubt it.”_ He leapt through the hole in the ceiling, landing on the ground and charging forwards. His punch connected with the beast, sending him flying across the room through one of the columns.

A blur moved past him, and the thing that used to be Desmond tried to punch the ground on where Kid Flash had been just a second before, the speedster skidding to a stop on his hands and knees behind him. Rising to his full height, the monster began to turn only to get slammed back as Superboy and Bumblebee slammed their fists into its jaw. The beast stumbled, tripping over the speedster.

“Learned that one in kindergarten.”

Robin leapt over him, his disks bouncing off Desmond’s thick skin as he rolled back to his feet only to get hit by a giant green hammer. Cracks spread against one of the columns as he slammed against it and he looked up to see Aqualad charging at him. Leaping into the air, his tattoos began to glow and the water turned into a mace in his hand. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the chance to strike as Desmond swung his arm and swatted the Atlantean out of the air. He charged forwards, trying to step on the boy when Kid Flash leapt at him. Snatching the speedster midair, he flung him into his friend, sending both boys crashing into the wall.

The monster started charging at them when Superboy tackled the beast. Rolling along the floor, Desmond got the upper hand, grabbing the clone’s arm and hurling him through a column, causing the building to shake as cracks formed along the walls.

“KF! Emerald! Get over here!” Robin called.

Desmond pinned Aqualad to the wall, raising his fist when Bumblebee swung around the column and kicked him in the face. Stumbling back from the force, a fist slammed into Desmond’s side and he went flying across the room through another column.

When that happened, one of the holograms on Robin’s holoscreen turned red. “Got it?”

“Got it!”

“Good, distract him!”

Kid Flash ran forwards, leaping at the beast and snatching a piece of torn flesh from his face. Looking at it, he wanted to grimace, but now wasn’t exactly the time. “Got your nose!” Desmond roared in anger charging after the speedster. Racing to a column, a grin split his face. “Come and get me slow poke!”

The monster raised his fists to smash him and Kid Flash rolled out of the way as Desmond charged into the column, cracks spread along it, but it didn’t fall. Until Emerald flew over and hit Desmond with her hammer again.

Around the room, Superboy and Bumblebee took out two more columns, leaving just a few weak ones to support the building as Aqualad doused the floor in water. On the sidelines, Emerald continued her assault, swinging her hammer again and slamming Desmond into the center of the room. The monster didn’t even have a chance to get back to its feet before Aqualad slammed his palms against the watery floor. Electricity arched over the beast, causing it to roar in pain.

“Move!” Robin shouted.

Several high pitched whines filled the room and all but the stunned creature took cover as Robin’s explosives went off and the building collapsed on them.

Dust filled the air as the ground shook with the building’s destruction. Large pieces of rubble falling to the ground. Several began to shift and a green light blasted into the air, pushing several of the rocks off. Emerald flew out, landing on the ground with a sigh as the others climbed out, only mildly scuffed up from the fight.

“We…did it,” Aqualad panted.

“Was there…ever any doubt?” Robin replied trying to catch his breath.

_ “You really want me to answer that?” _

Emerald rolled her eyes, punching the Cybertronian in the shoulder, “Since when did you become such a pessimist?”

_ “Since my dad is such and Optimus.” _

“…Did you really make a pun out of your dad’s name?”

_ “I regret nothing.” _

“I hate you.”

_ “No you don’t.” _

“Touche.”

Shaking his head at their bickering, KF put his hands on his hips. Looking up at the clone, then to the sky with a smile, “See, Superboy, the moon.”

Looking up Superboy’s eyes widened as he took in the night sky. Sure he had images in his head but…seeing it for himself, it was incredible. He never knew there were so many stars. Looking back to the glowing orb of soft silver blue light in the sky he narrowed his eyes as he saw something else. It was small, dark, like something flying in the sky, getting closer to them.

“Oh,” Emerald muttered, “and Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?”

Superboy’s eyes widened. This was him. This was the man he was meant to become. And he was meeting him, his hero, in person. He almost didn’t notice the other heroes arrival over his own excitement.

They all watched as members of the League landed around them, and ‘Bee jumped as he head a groundbridge open and the other Autobots stepped out with Batman and a few other of the non-flying members.

Silence filled the area, no doubt the adults wanting explanations, and the teens waiting to see what was going to happen. But it didn’t last long as Superboy took a hesitant step towards Superman. With a breath to calm himself, he grabbed the torn piece of his suit and pulled it up to reveal the same S-shield they both shared with a hopeful smile.

What he got instead was a suspicious glare.

“Is that what I think it is?” Batman spoke up.

 _“He’s not an it,”_ Bumblebee growled.

“I’m Superman’s clone,” Superboy announced and he watched the eyes of many widen in surprise. And he didn’t need superhearing to hear the whispers.

“Start talking.”

-.-

Superboy crossed his arms as they waited for the adults to end their deliberation. This…this wasn’t what he expected. Sure he figured that Superman might be shocked by having a clone—who wouldn’t? But still, he expected something from the Man of Steel. And so far, he had nothing. Glancing over in his direction, he averted his eyes as he felt the red gaze of Martian Manhunter on him. Tentatively, he looked back to see Manhunter and Wonder Woman talking to him, and when Superman looked in his direction, he ripped his gaze away again.

It was only when he heard approaching footsteps did he dare to look up. “Well…uh…We’ll figure something out for you—the League will, I mean,” he said. “For now…I better see that they get that Blockbuster creature squared away.” Without another word, Superman flew away, leaving Superboy disheartened. Superman, his hero…he didn’t want anything to do with him, did he?

“Cadmus will be investigated,” a stern voice scolded, dragging their attention to Batman as the Dark Knight approached with several of the other mentors. “But lets make one thing clear—”

“You should’ve called!” Flash interjected with a glare.

“And, results aside, we are not happy,” Batman continued. “You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives. You will not be doing this again.”

“I’m sorry,” Aqualad spoke up, “but we will.”

“Aqualad, stand down,” Aquaman ordered.

“Why?” Emerald interjected. “Maybe because you’re not seeing what we did? We did good work here tonight; the work you trained us for.”

“Yes,” Aqualad nodded in assent, “Emerald is right. Together on our own we forged something powerful, important.”

“If this is about your treatment at the hall, the five of you—”

“Six,” Kid Flash interrupted his mentor. “And it’s not.”

“Batman we’re ready to use what you’ve taught us. Or why teach us at all?” Robin added.

“Why let them tell us what to do?!” Superboy growled. “It’s simple, get on board, or get out of the way.”

The teens leveled their glares at the adults, waiting for their response. “I will think about it and let you know in a few days,” Batman answered.

 _“Seriously?”_ Bumblebee said crossing his arms. _“You’ll think about it? No,”_ stepping up to Batman, the teen poked him in the chest his glowing cyan eyes blazing with fury, _“We’re not asking, we’re telling you how it’s going to be from now on. We’re done being sidekicks. After all, you’re the one who thinks we need to learn how to work as a team. So…you don’t really have a choice. Like Superboy said, you’re either on board, or you’re in our way. I recommend you figure out which it is.”_ Without waiting for his answer, ‘Bee shouldered his way past Batman and the other mentors, who stared at him with looks of shock.


	5. Those Lost

Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! Welcome back! Let me know what y’all think of this rework so far, I’m already liking it a lot more than the original. Which makes sense, I wrote that back in high school, and this is flowing a whole lot smoother.**

**Ok, enough with my rambling, I just own the story, Emerald belongs to my friend.**

**/comms/**

**_Telepathy/flashbacks_ **

**_ “Bumblebee/Soundwave talking.” _ **

** Unknown Location, July 6, 09:35PDT **

“Of the energon deposits we’ve located while you were away, Lord Megatron, this one is by far the most significant. The drones have been mining without pause during your absence, and have amassed quite the stockpile,” Starscream reported as he stood overlooking the mine. Motioning to a solider, he waved his talons dismissively. “You, fetch me a sample.”

The seeker could feel a prickle in the electromagnetic field around him as he heard a growl from behind. “Starscream.” Flinching, the lanky man turned to stare as glowing scarlet eyes narrowed at him from the shadows, the ground rumbling slightly under powerful steps as the pale, silver-armored man stepped into the light. “Now that I have returned, I will issue the commands.”

Inclining his head, Starscream gave a short bow as the tyrant approached. “Very well, Lord Megatron. Then, as your humble servant, shall I ready the spacebridge? To bring forth the Decepticon army you have no doubt gathered in you three years in space?”

“My army will come,” Megatron replied, and Starscream grinned. “However, I have deployed most of the fleet to handle some issues in the Zeltar system, the Autobots are getting rather bold. But, my time away has yielded more…intriguing means of materializing the forces we need. Without stretching the fleet thin.”

Frowning, Starscream took a tentative step towards his master, frowning as he noticed a strange violet glow bouncing off Megatron’s armor. “And…what might that be, Master?”

The Lord of the Decepticons didn’t even need to be facing him for Starscream to tell Megatron was grinning sinisterly, “Nothing of importance, just something the ancients referred to as the Blood of Unicron.”

Starscream’s energon ran cold as he stepped to Megatron’s side to see, to his horror, that in his master’s hand was the very thing of which he spoke. A thin sliver of violet energon clutched in Megatron’s grasp, it’s aura pulsing with something akin to what Starscream could only describe as dread. “Unicorn the Destroyer,” he murmured making sure to keep a wide berth as he circled to face Megatron. “But, it’s said his blood is the Antispark itself, the very essence of the pit.”

If anything, Megatron seemed to finding his caution amusing. “Indeed,” he mused. “I plucked this particular piece of dark energon from cosmic shores lightyears from here, on a world that is…no longer habitable for its native species.”

Starscream nodded, “My Lord, legends tell that it holds the power to…” he gulped, “revive the dead.”

“And we only require a cadaver to be certain,” Megatron smirked, his glowing gaze meeting his own. “Tell me Starscream, are you willing to make the ultimate sacrifice?”

Chuckling sheepishly, Starscream shook his head. “That won’t be necessary, if I may Lord Megatron,” he motioned to the lift watching in relief as his gift for his liege finally arrived. Lying there, all tied up like a present, was the corpse of the Autobot he killed the other day. “Consider it a welcome home present.”

Glancing at Megatron, Starscream almost sighed with relief as he saw the grin on his master’s face. “Well done Starscream,” Megatron praised, “for once, you didn’t fail to disappoint.”

While the latter half of that statement stung somewhat, the seeker was still pleased to know he wasn’t on the chopping block this day.

-.-

** Jasper **

Bumblebee groaned as he heard loud beeping on the edge of his consciousness. After the other night, he was pretty sure he didn’t have patrol today. Groaning, he stretched out his hand, trying to find his phone before finally getting a grip on the infernal beeping device. It took him only a moment to adjust to the light his friends had always regarded as blinding, and he narrowed his tiredly. He was hearing an annoying loud sound, and he alarm wasn’t going off so what…oh scrap.

Suddenly wide awake, he leapt from his bed, nearly tripping as he fought to change quickly into his armor as he heard the alert. Racing from his room, the scout slid to a stop before sprinting back and grabbing the small black choker-like device that served as his translator.

Fastening it around his neck, he almost barreled into Bulkhead as he came into the main hangar. _“I’m here! What’s the mission?”_

“It’s the Proximity alert,” Ratchet answered, pulling up the camera to show an all too familiar helicopter. “It’s Fowler.”

_ “So…I got out of bed for nothing?” _

“Yeah, basically,” Arcee grimaced. “But at least you slept though Bulkhead scaring the scrap out of us this morning.”

‘Bee looked at her, and Arcee smirked as she heard the big lug groan. “It was an accident.”

“Yes, and I needed what you broke!” Ratchet griped.

The scout snickered, crossing his arms as he looked to Bulkhead, _“So you broke another of Doc’s tools huh?”_

“Yeah,” Arcee replied, “but that wasn’t the part that startled half the base awake this morning.”

‘Bee raised an eyebrow, _“Oh, and what might that be?”_

“Arcee…”

At Bullhead’s whine, Arcee couldn’t help but give him a teasing smirk, “Oh, well, Ratchet decided to have Bulkhead clean up his own mess. So, he went into the supply closet and found Superboy, sleeping in there. Standing up. He screamed like a vōljes.”

The wrecker groaned as he heard the pair start laughing at his expense. “It was not like a vōljes.”

“No, it was louder and more shrill.”

That only made Bumblebee laugh harder. “I hate both of you.”

“Aw, no you don’t.”

“You’d scream too if you found a random kid sleeping in a closet!”

“Maybe, but not like you did.”

“Yeah, you scream was pretty loud,” a new voice spoke up and ‘Bee turned to see Superboy standing off hesitantly to the side.

 _“Sorry, you had to wake up to that,”_ ‘Bee apologized, _“Bulkhead’s woken us all up at somepoint by his…accidents.”_

“I have not!”

Both of the other Autobots looked at him skeptically. “Do want us to list all the ways? That time you electrocuted yourself.”

_ “Lob ball into Doc.” _

“Lob ball into my door.”

_ “That one incident where you blew up the microwave.” _

“Time you accidently hit the emergency alarm.”

_ “That time you blew up the toaster.” _

“Ok, I get it!” Bulkhead groaned playfully trying to punch their shoulders. Glancing to the kid, he did wince and offer him a sheepish smile, “Sorry about scaring you by the way.”

Superboy looked back at him, almost seeming surprised to be acknowledged. “Uh, it’s ok?”

Arcee stepped forwards, placing a hand on her hip, “What were you doing in the supply closet anyways? We planet of rooms. I thought we gave you one.”

“You did,” Superboy nodded. “It’s just…after being in a pod so long, I got used to it.”

For a moment, the clone almost thought he said something wrong because Bulkhead looked aghast. “You’ve never slept in a bed?”

“No…” he answered shifting his stance nervously. “So, uh, who’s Fowler?”

“Special Agent Fowler is our designated liaison between the Justice League and the US government. He only tends to visit when there are any major issues,” Optimus answered.

The elevator beeped and Superboy watched as a middle-aged man with dark skin and hair like Bulkhead stomped in, looking annoyed. “A collapsed building, seven wrecks, thirty-four fender-benders, and a three hour traffic jam, and, of particular note, reports of a blue motorcycle of unknown make and a green truck; also the blown up mountain,” Fowler listed. “So, anything you and your superfriends want to get off your chests Prime?”

_ “Damn…what the frag did I sleep through?” _

“We have the situation under control Agent Fowler,” Prime stated.

“They’re back aren’t they?”

“If you’re referring to the Decepticons, I have doubts they have ever left; your planet’s resources are much too valuable.”

“Then it’s time to wake up the Pentagon.”

“Hear me Agent Fowler, we are your best defense against the Decepticon threat.”

“Says you,” Fowler challenged.

“Hey bit-brain,” Bulkhead called. “Did anyone get hurt or die in those situations? Team Prime knows when to use force,” for emphasis he ripped something out from one of the desks, “and how much to use.” Squeezing on the component, they watched as it broke under the force of his grip, the small claw at the end of it rolling along the floor.

“Bulkhead! I needed that!”

“Enough,” Optimus spoke, ending the argument before it even began. Turning back to Agent Fowler, Optimus met the human’s gaze, “Military involvement will only result in catastrophe. Perhaps you can condone widespread casualties, Agent Fowler, I, however, cannot.”

“Then handle this Prime, under the radar,” the agent said walking back towards the elevator, “or I will.”

The doors slid shut, not allowing time for a response. “Pretty big bearings, for a human,” Bulkhead muttered.

“Why did you let him talk to you like that?” Superboy asked feeling angry. He didn’t like that agent; no, he reminded him to much of the doctors at Cadmus, especially Desmond.

However, when Prime’s gaze turned to meet him, the clone couldn’t help but worry what would happen if he fought back. “Agent Fowler is merely concerned for his world,” Optimus answered, “and sometimes, when people are stressed for things they care about, they get angry and lash out—however, that is not the best way of handling one’s emotions.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Bulkhead smirked patting the teen’s shoulder, “look how Doc freaks out about all the stuff I accidently knock over! Yet I don’t see him freaking out whenever he’s hitting me in the head with a wrench.”

“That’s cause you deserved it,” the medic answered.

Superboy couldn’t help but smirk at the annoyed look on the other Autobot’s face. “Did you really deserve it?”

Bulkhead scoffed, crossing his arms in what the clone could almost say was a pout, “No, but Doc’s abusive for a medic anyways.”

Superboy almost swore he saw the older Cybertronain, reach for something silver on his desk.

Apparently Bulkhead had too, because in that same moment, Superboy found himself being pushed in a random direction. “Come on kid, how about I show you how to lob?”

-.-

** Unknown Location **

Starscream watched nervously as Megatron circled the corpse, seeming to analyze it. A small part of him worried that his master would find a flaw and turn his experiment onto him instead, but another was saying that everything should’ve been fine since Megatron praised him for snuffing the pesky Bot. And frankly, Starscream didn’t need an invitation since that annoyance had tried blowing him to smithereens multiple times.

“Now,” Megatron rumbled, pulling his SIC from his thoughts. “Let us see what Dark Energon can do.” Leaving no room for protest, Megatron stabbed the crystal into the cadaver’s chest.

The room seemed to somehow grow cold as the eerie light emanated from the shard, glowing brighter with every moment. A sense of wrongness filled the air, causing the seeker to take a step back. Something bad was going to happen; nothing good ever came from messing with relics of Unicron and his followers.

Like he predicted, the energon seeped into the body, causing a strange, unnatural glow to emanate from his empty lines. Where a normal Cybertronian would have a normal blue tinge to their veins, this was purple. It looked like poison spreading through the Autobot’s body. An unnatural snarl came from Cliffjumper’s throat, and several of the troopers took a step back as dull black-violet eyes opened, and glow came from his mouth, highlighting the strings of dripping energon.

The monster gave another screech as it tried to pull itself up, thrashing against its bonds like a wild animal.

The real shock came when it did manage to rip itself from the bonds with terrifying ease. Dark liquid bubbled from the creature’s mouth as it lunged at the closest soldier and it bit down on the man throat, seeming to barely even be affected by the blasts coming from the trooper’s gun as he tried to get it off him. If anything, it only seemed to piss it off more. The monster roared in anger, ripping the man’s arm off before ripping his head from his shoulders. More shots rang out as the next man tried to avoid the creature as it lunged at him.

“That’s you plan?!” Starscream exclaimed staring at his master in horror. “Bring Autobots back from the dead to attack us?!”

“That is no longer an Autobot,” Megatron said calmly, continuing to observe the carnage, “just a mindless beast, its only instinct to destroy anything in its path.”

Another shriek got Starscream’s attention and his eyes widened as he saw it turn its attention to them. It charged towards them and Starscream leapt out of the way. Rolling back to his feet, he expected to see it trying to maul Megatron.

Instead, he saw Megatron holding his blade, up the strange fluid that had been dripping from the monster covering his sword. Looking back to the thing he created, they watched as its torso separated from the rest of its body. The legs fell far into the min below while the remaining arm clawed at the ledge still snarling as it tried to continue its hunt. “There Starscream, lies the indestructible seed of my army,” Megatron stated strolling up the desperate beast. “The ultimate weapon.” The beast snarled, trying to lunge at him when Megatron simply kicked its head, sending it flying off the platform. “Once I learn to control it.”

-.-

** Jasper **

The alarm rung through the base again, almost causing ‘Bee to drop his energon ration in surprise. While it wasn’t unusual to get multiple alarms a day, having them almost back-to-back was strange. Taking a quick swig of the fuel, he slammed his cube on the counter and raced out to the main hangar, the heavy steps of Bulkhead shaking the ground behind him.

“Cliffjumper’s life signal just came back online,” Ratchet informed.

The comment almost made the scout balk. Cliff? What did he mean his life signal was back online? Sure he hadn’t seen him all day, but that was probably cause he had patrol today. However, the looks on his comrade’s faces told him otherwise. Something happened on the mission with the League to fight the ‘Cons, something bad.

“W-wait, who’s Cliffjumper?” Superboy spoke up.

He didn’t receive an answer as Optimus grabbed his helmet, “How is that possible?”

“Normally I’d say this was another infernal bug, but considering we know Cliff was captured, it stands to reason he was able to make an escape.”

_ “Wait, Cliff was captured?! When?!” _

“While you two were running around Cadmus,” Arcee answered. “If there’s even a chance Cliif’s alive…”

“Ratchet, prepare sickbay, we may need it,” Prime ordered going to another console and typing something quickly.

“Hey!” Superboy spoke up, stepping forwards. “What can I do to help?”

The Prime regarded him for a moment before slipping his helmet of, battle mask sliding into place. “Remain with Ratchet.”

“Aw,” the medic whined.

Without leaving room for protest, the others got in their vehicles and Superboy’s eyes went wide as a giant glowing blue vortex opened up in the tunnel before him. On some unseen signal, the clone stared as the group raced off through the vortex. In a flash of light they were gone and the portal popped out of existence.

“Whoa…what was that?”

“I transported them to the designated coordinates via the groundbridge.”

Superboy blinked, that answered absolutely nothing. “What’s a groundbridge?”

This time, the older man did groan, turning from his station with an annoyed look, “A scaled down version of spacebridge technology since we don’t currently possess the means or energon required for intergalactic travel.”

And that response left the Kryptonian with more questions than before. “So…you’re stuck here on Earth?” he asked.

“With you,” Ratchet grumbled, “unfortunately. However, even with your world’s limited technology, I was able to build our groundbridge from scratch, enabling travel from here to anywhere on your planet. They have a much wider range than those Zeta Tubes the League uses.”

“So it’s a teleporter?”

“Yes.”

“Does work on Kryptonians?”

“And humans,” Ratchet answered curtly. “I would offer to send you somewhere, but as of right now, the League doesn’t know what to do with you. Though I don’t know why Superman isn’t handling this problem like he should be.”

Behind them, Superboy heard a strange sound and he turned at the other two holes in the wall to watch as they began to glow with a yellow light rather than blue. “Recognized—”

-.-

** Unknown Location **

Landing quietly on the ground, Bumblebee narrowed his eyes as he took the glowing blue crystals hiding their arrival. “Energon mine,” Bulkhead muttered in confirmation.

“Judging by the scale, the Decepticons have been tunneling here for quite some time,” Optimus added as they crouched down, peering behind some boulders. Before them, Decepticon soldiers moved about, cutting slabs of energon from the walls and loading them into various carts or crates located around the cavern.

“Should we call for backup?” Arcee asked.

Optimus was quiet for a moment, before activating his blaster, “No, it will take too long for the rest of the League to arrive. Finding Cliffjumper is our priority.”

Nodding in assent, the rest of them followed their leader as he stepped out from their shared cover. And, almost instantly, the sound of blasterfire echoed through the cave system. ‘Bee rolled aside as several bolts flew past him, putting his feet back under him he continued his sprint, firing a clear shot at the drone who tried to hit him.

Leaping over his corpse, the scout kicked another one in the face while shooting another. By the time their bodies hit the ground he was already onto his next target. The soldier grunted as he landed on his chest, and ‘Bee ended him quickly with a slash to his main energon line, causing the blue fluid to spatter over his armor.

The ground shook in conjunction with a loud grunt from Bulkhead and the sound of breaking metal. Springing to his feet, Bumblebee fired a shot in his comrade’s direction, hitting the solider who tried to sneak up on the older Wrecker. ‘Bee turned his attention back to the battlefield, growling as he saw more of Megatron’s cannon fodder stomping towards them with a few more drills.

Fortunately he was saved from having to fight them as Bulkhead and Optimus hurled two drills at them, almost flattening them on impact. And those who survived were too injured to be much of a problem anyways.

The sounds of battle faded and the group continued their race through the mine. It was only when they heard the sounds of more troops did they begin to slow down. The dull glow of sunlight began to illuminate the cavern more than the light from the crystals, and he crouched behind some crates, taking in the situation. Multiple platforms, a lift straight to the Nemesis, and soldiers everywhere.

Beside him, Bulkhead gave an admiring whistle, “Quite the operation.”

Unfortunately, he did no think of how the sound would attract unwanted attention. ‘Bee ducked behind his cover as blaster fire reigned down on them, before he popped back up taking a few more quick shots, ignoring the sting he felt in his shoulder as one lucky blast made contact. He didn’t like this situation, they were pinned. And being pinned in a highly explosive energon mine by blaster fire, well, it wasn’t considered the best of situations.

“It’s Cliff,” Arcee said. “I have a visual.”

Well at least someone did cause right now ‘Bee was too focused on not getting shot. “We’ll cover you,” Optimus replied, “Go!”

Taking the cue, Bumblebee charged out with Arcee, sprinting ahead of the woman, he stabbed a soldier in the chest before hurling his body into a few of his friends further up the ramp, giving his comrade the opening she needed to leap to the platform above and then nimbly swinging from the rings of the lift.

Continuing to open fire, ‘Bee made a retreat back to his previous position, grimacing as he tried to aim at the men firing at Arcee. The problem was, some of them were at angles where he couldn’t get a clear shot. Not without missing or worse, hitting an energon crystal and sending them to a fiery death.

But while he couldn’t get a hit, that didn’t mean the others couldn’t. The cannon fire almost faded away and in that moment, ‘Bee noticed one thing, a red form slipping from Arcee’s hands and falling towards the ground. However, even from this distance it seemed to too small to be Cliff. Moving forwards, he watched as the red object hit a platform with a bang, bouncing off allowing the torso to fall to the energon crystals below spattering an unfamiliar dark substance across the bright blue crystals.

They didn’t have much time to process what happened before they heard an all too familiar cackle. Looking up, ‘Bee scowled as he saw the Lord of Stilettos and Backstabbing himself. On the higher platform, Starscream smirked, “I’d stick around, but I’m squeamish.”

Holding out a hand, he dropped something. I didn’t take a genius to know it was a bomb.

‘Bee didn’t even stop to see what dramatic way the seeker was going to make his exit, they needed to go, now. And the others had the same idea as the took off after him at full speed back into the depths of the cave. “Ratchet! We need a bridge! Now!”

The cave shook as the bomb went off and ‘Bee leapt through the bridge as it opened before him, racing in, he panted as he watched the blue flames approach before dissipating as Ratchet closed the bridge, the remnants of the heat and flames ruffling his hair for a moment as he caught his breath.

“Geez, close call,” someone whistled.

Furrowing his brows, Bumblebee scowled as he met the gazes of the last people he wanted to see right now. Oh, he’d be happy if it was his friends, but the League, no. After all the events the other day, they were lucky he wasn’t punching them in the face for letting Cliff get captured. He told them they weren’t ready for the ‘Cons and because of it Cliff was dead. If it hadn’t been for these heroes keeping secrets and not really treating them as their equals, then maybe they would’ve been able save Cliff. But no, the adults didn’t want to deal with their sidekicks after Speedy’s outburst. They wanted to avoid cleaning the mess that they made themselves.

A hand settled on his shoulder and ‘Bee glanced back to meet his father’s concerned gaze. Prime glanced to his…associates in the League, and his attention turned back to him, no doubt his father had been sensing his rage through their bond or whatever powers the matrix gave him. “There was nothing we could have done, even if you came with.”

Bumblebee turned, giving Optimus a skeptical look.

“Cliffjumper was already captured by the time we got there,” Optimus explained quietly. “I know you are rightfully angry for how they treated your friends, and I’m sure things will work out. Just give it some time.”

Some tension did leave him at those words. Like always, his dad had his back. And while apparently Cliffjumper’s capture wasn’t the League’s fault, that didn’t mean there weren’t other things he could be angry at them for. At least until they got off their high-horses and apologized.

“How about Cliffjumper?” Ratchet spoke up.

The silence that filled the room made the stomachs of those who had not been on the mission sink in dread. “Cliff? He was captured, you guys found him?” Flash asked.

Optimus didn’t answer, merely turning to look at Arcee. “Arcee, what did you see?”

Taking off her helmet, she looked down, short brown locks with pink highlights hiding her face. “Not Cliff…at least, not anymore,” she murmured. “He was mutated, butchered. Like those things from the ‘Con experiments during the war.” Whatever she was going to say next was cut off as she stumbled, almost collapsing before catching herself.

“Whoa, Arcee—” Superman stepped forwards only to be waved off.

“I’m fine,” she grumbled. “Just dizzy.”

Ratchet did not believe her. He stomped over quickly, having her sit on a nearby box as he quickly ran his scanner over her. For a brief moment, the blue light flashed red and he moved it back down, causing the light to change again. “What is this?” Ratchet asked carefully taking her arm, examining the strange liquid on it.

“Don’t know, Cliff was covered in it; bleeding it even.”

Nodding, the medic carefully grabbed a vial and a pipette. Arcee did her best to hold her hand steady as Ratchet took a sample from the fluid, dispensing it into the vial and sealing it. “Go take a decontamination shower, now.” Setting the vial down, he looked over the rest of the Autobots. “Bumblebee, you’re next.”

The scout looked at him before glancing down at himself. _“Oh, it’s not mine. I had to slit a few throats.”_

At his answer, Ratchet looked like he wanted to smack him with a wrench. “Go decontaminate.”

Groaning, ‘Bee turned on his heel and began to follow Arcee towards the showers. But, he didn’t fail to notice the mildly horrified look some of the Leaguer’s were giving him. While one part of him felt disgruntled that the heroes didn’t seem used to this type of carnage, another part burned with amusement at their clear shock. Then again, it wasn’t like any of them had been in a real war. They wouldn’t really know what horrors happened on the battlefield, the things they sacrificed, the people they lost. People like Cliff.

Yes, these heroes who claimed to treat their sidekicks as equals only to keep secrets from them and lied to them. For them to say they weren’t ready after they’d all trained years for this opportunity only to realize it wasn’t the real first step to joining. No, the adults wanted them to fall back in line and do things _their way_ and just follow orders like they always have. After all, it wasn’t like their villains kept coming back and killing innocent people. It was likely that not one person there got their hands dirty to do what needed to be done.

‘Bee scowled clenching his fists as he stormed away from them. He probably needed to cool off for a day or two anyways before talking to the League again. Otherwise there was a strong chance he’d break Batman’s nose to wipe that smug look off his face.

Back in the hangar, the adults were quiet as they took in the news. “So…Cliff’s dead?” Superman spoke up, almost looking like he was hoping for another answer.

“Saw his body ourselves,” Bulkhead answered with a sigh. “It was nasty. He was cut in half—”

“Please leave out the gory details,” Flash grimaced.

“Sorry,” Bulkhead replied sitting down on a chair. Next to him, he looked to see Superboy sitting down, looking concerned.

“So Cliffjumper’s the guy you went to rescue, right?”

Bulkhead nodded sadly. “Yeah, he was a good guy, great conversationalist—sometimes we couldn’t even get him to shut up—and he was a great lobber. Man, I’m gonna miss him.”

Superboy nodded, resting his elbows on his knees similar to how Bulkhead was. This was new to him, grief was new. Sure he felt some leaving Cadmus, it’d been his home ever since he could remember; but this…he didn’t know how to handle this. “I’m, uh, sorry I couldn’t meet him.”

Beside him, Bulkhead gave a hollow chuckle, “Yeah, I’m sorry you couldn’t meet him either, I think Cliff would’ve liked you kid.”


End file.
